On-tap at the Greenbush vs. Shorts Throwdown at Ashley's in Westland. It pours a murky copper with some trudges of amber at the edges. The head is pretty nonexistent, and while I don't expect my old ales to carry a bunch of foam, this may have been due to the pour itself. The small, gray ring leaves a minuscule amount of lacing on its descent.

If Shorts didn't come out and say that this beer was brewed with Granny Smith apples, one good sniff and you'd be able to figure that out on your own. Huge sweet and borderline-tart apple aroma that meshes so well with the soft blanket of sweet caramel and toffee malts. Lots of spices seem to be floating around as well; cinnamon, nutmeg, and maybe even a light dash of honey.

The booze is pretty tame in the aroma, especially for an old ale. As Stray Cat warms up, the complexity spreads out even more. Lots more bread and buttery malts join in with another fruit-like aspect, possibly pineapple. The warm malts, spices, and apples couple together nicely to form a sort of "apple pie-esque" aroma. Savory and delectable. Though Brett was used, I'm not getting any of the funk you may expect - possibly a good thing, I don't think it would work too well here in heavy doses.

The taste is just like aroma said it would be - laden with smooth, soft cinnamon spice, mildly tart green apples, and a huge wave of bread, caramel, and toffee malts. It has a reasonably active acidic crispiness to it that gives the tongue a little tingle, keeping things interesting. Hops are a bit more lively on the palate as well; perfume-like, bright, and lightly citric. There's a whole lot going on here, and I'm loving every minute of it.

I nursed this for close to an hour, and even then, the booze never got hot at all. The flavors, however, did continue to expand and open up over the entire time span, creating a wonderfully complex flavor profile. The finish contained a good amount of bread, biscuit, caramel, and dying apple sweetness. At the very tail end, I caught just the slightest amount of cheesy-funk, most likely from the yeast. It was a nice little tweak, although it wouldn't be missed if it wasn't there. Medium-thick bodied, a little sticky and oily on the palate, though this is relatively thin compare to many other old ales; decent carbonation for the style, on the low-side.

What an interesting brew, though I expect nothing less from Shorts. Very glad I got to try this one, as it definitely sounded the most interesting out of the entire line up. Strangely enough, it probably ended up being my favorite beer of the 10+ I sampled that night. So unique and so drinkable for an old ale. My hope is that they bottle this one day. It would certainly be a shame if they never made it again.

Appearance: a nice brown with a small tan head that doesn't stick around.

Smell: strong malts, toffee, sour apples, and a yeasty funk

Taste: opens up like a decent old ale but adds some complexity with the apples and finishes off with the wild yeast funk blend and super strong syrup. pretty tasty for the unique take, but i think ill stick to my good classic old ales.

Mouthfeel: super thick and syrupy. heavy and sticky

Overall: good and unique but not good enough to surpass the Bell's old ale for the classic old ale, curmudgeon for the syrupy molasses taste, or a wild for the funk.